In 2021, Alabama students began placing discarded Christmas trees along dunes to trap sand

Discarded Christmas trees Discarded holiday trees collected from living rooms across Alabama are finding a second life along the Gulf of Mexico, forming the foundation of a student-led coastal restoration campaign. Discarded Christmas trees collected from homes across Alabama are getting a second life along the Gulf of Mexico, helping form the base of a student-led coastal restoration project. What began in 2021 as a small environmental effort has grown into an annual project on Alabama’s public beaches. Each year, around 200 high school students and community volunteers gather along the shoreline in Gulf Shores to place recycled Christmas trees and plant thousands of native plants to strengthen fragile sand dunes.According to public records from the City of Gulf Shores and historical information maintained by coastal restoration company Dune Doctors, the project combines sand trapping with native plant planting. Recycled Christmas trees are placed and secured in selected areas of the beach where wind-blown sand naturally collects around their branches. Over time, the trapped sand builds up and forms the base of new dunes. To help hold the sand in place during storms and strong win...